Friday, May 18, 2012

This Fall in TV 2012: Sifting through what the networks will inflict upon us this fall

Remember what I said about writing being habit? Here's another example. I used to regularly write up the fall schedules based on the upfront stories for the Home Theater Forum, but even though I drifted away from that site a couple years ago (I joke that I was shunned after saying I really don't care about lossless audio), I did it last year and felt the itch again this year. So, let's go!

As per usual, the information comes from The Futon Critic. The bolded selections are the things I plan on watching, comments follow.

* Plus, you know, various cable series and Masterpiece Mystery while that's still running, as it should be finishing up its summer session with new Wallander while the network shows are premiering.

* I see 666 Park Avenue has Mercedes Masöhn from The Finder as part of its cast, which apparently means the writing was on the wall for that show a while ago. Bummer, it was much more fun than I expected after its poor backdoor pilot on Bones, and it had a downer ending. I may give this a sample for some of the supporting cast (her, Terry O'Quinn, Vanessa Williams), but it's a horror premise that doesn't do much for me.

* Man, that really just leaves The Amazing Race and The Good Wife for me. Good for them to keep chugging along.

* Wow, Supernatural moves away from Fridays; has it actually become popular (by CW standards) rather than just dependable? But, of course, it's moved to coincide with something I'm already watching.

* Nashville and Chicago Fire may both get samples; I like Connie Britton for the former and would like to see another good firefighter show now that Rescue Me is done. Still, that's a high bar to clear.

* The Neighbors, with its aliens-in-the-suburbs premise, can't be anything but horrible, can it?

* CBS is going to give me a weekly dose of Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu? Yes, please, thank you! I know some are up in arms about it, but many of them act like Steven Moffatt created Sherlock Holmes or was even the first to place him in the present day.

* On the one hand, Last Resort has Andre Braugher commanding a nuclear submarine on the run after refusing to fire missiles without confirmation and taking up residence on a tropical island. That's a cool premise for a movie, but I'm not sure how you make a series out of it.

* Maybe I'll check Person of Interest out again. I watched the first few episodes while waiting for something else to start last year, and didn't feel the need to stick around, but didn't really dislike it.

* Wait, Touch sticks around but The Finder doesn't? That is just unfair and wrong, as Touch drove me away after two episodes with its stupidity (as much as I liked Heroes, even to the end, hearing about the golden mean seemed to collapse Tim Kring's mind).

* Only 13 episodes of Fringe, which at least will get a proper send-off. Like most sci-fi shows, its mythology came to dominate too much, but it stayed consistently fun and clever throughout. Please have Brad Anderson direct the final episode.

* The Following is mildly interesting for having Kevin Bacon, but the "network of serial killers" idea seems a little much. Maybe I'm getting squeamish in my old age.

* Looking at this list and the stuff premiering in the fall... Fox's most intriguing new show appears to be The Mindy Project, a sitcom starring Mindy Kaling. She's great, but whatever happened to the daring, try-anything Fox?

* Somehow, I've never seen a Hannibal Lecter anything. I'm not starting now.

* Even taking into consideration that the network will have time to fill on Sunday, once the NFL season finishes, this is not the bench of a confident network. There's both a lot of filler and expectation of attrition here (several returning comedies only have 13-episode orders).